EDEC 575 / COMP 598 (Sec 002): The Teaching of Computer Science
Term: Fall 2018
Course description: Principles of teaching computer science
and computational thinking. This course provides an overview of the
computer science education research literature. Topics include how
diverse learners learn computing concepts, inclusive pedagogy, and
the social context of computing education. Multiple audiences of
learners will be considered (primary, secondary, tertiary,
informal). The course will focus on how computing topics are taught
at an introductory-level; such topics may include programming,
computational thinking, robotics, algorithms, data structures,
logic, networking, and security.
This is a discussion and activity-oriented course. Each week we will
have two papers to read in advance of class; we will have a group
discussion of the papers in class. Short group activities will be
organized around the readings and topics each week.
Teaching Philosophy
I prefer to teach in a participatory, student-directed style. This
means that you as students will have a say in what readings we read:
I as an instructor will give you a range of options and we as a
class will decide what directions to pursue within the realm of CS
education. Instead of starting the term with me picking out all the
readings in advance, we will instead pick readings collaboratively
as the term goes on.
This also means I will craft the assessment of this course around
what you as a class would find most valuable. Do you want this
course to be a hands-on class about how to instruct computing, where
you give practice lessons and have a micropracticum at the end? Do
you want this course to be a research-focused course where we delve
into the research literature and understand the
psychology/sociology/etc of CS education, and write a paper at the
end of the course? Some combination of the two? We will discuss
these options and more in our first class.
Learning Goals
In our first class, we established our learning goals for the course
to be:
Develop and justify strategies for teaching computer science
(CS) & computational thinking (CT) to diverse audiences.
Appreciate the social and historical context of CS education,
including how it is shaped today.
Develop and justify evaluations of CS/CT students.
Schedule of Readings and Activities
Sept 4: What are computer science and computational
thinking?
In order for us to teach CS/CT, we need to first establish what
these topics are. The papers to start us off each look at the
philosophy and history of CS/CT. We will also have some
activities on getting to know each other and our expectations
for this class.
Tedre, Matti, and Peter J. Denning. "The
long quest for computational thinking." In Proceedings
of the 16th Koli Calling International Conference on
Computing Education Research, pp. 120-129. ACM, 2016.
Activities:
Introductions
Course design activity. What do you want this course to
be?
Small group discussions: What is CS? What is CT? How does
defining CS/CT change CS/CT education?
Dziallas, Sebastian, and
Sally Fincher. "ACM
Curriculum Reports: A Pedagogic Perspective." In Proceedings
of the eleventh annual International Conference on
International Computing Education Research, pp.
81-89. ACM, 2015.
What are common preconceptions students would have in
your class?
What are common misconceptions?
What are common stumbling points for students?
What are some good tactics for teaching the content in
this class?
What topics in your class would best identify how much
PCK the instructor has?
Select what lessons your group will cover in their
demonstration lessons (due: start of next class)
Sept 25: Instructional Approaches Part
2 (Structuring Programming)
Readings
Joentausta, Johanna, and Arto Hellas. "Subgoal
Labeled Worked Examples in K-3 Education." In Proceedings
of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science
Education, pp. 616-621. ACM, 2018.
Zingaro, Daniel, Andrew
Petersen, and Michelle Craig. "Stepping
up to integrative questions on CS1 exams." In Proceedings
of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science
Education, pp. 253-258. ACM, 2012.
Bonus (optional) Berdahl, Jennifer L., Marianne Cooper,
Peter Glick, Robert W. Livingston, and Joan C. Williams. "Work
as a masculinity contest." Journal of Social Issues
74, no. 3 (2018): 422-448.
Due at start of class: A3
revise & resubmits
Activities
Lowering the stick activity
Classroom culture - group discussion
Teaching logs: what goes in them, best practices
Best practices for invigilation
Discussing readings
Nov 6: Demonstration Lessons for Groups 1 and 2
Reading (only one)
Feaster, Yvon, Luke Segars, Sally K. Wahba, and Jason O.
Hallstrom. "Teaching
CS unplugged in the high school (with limited success)."
In Proceedings of the 16th annual joint conference on
Innovation and technology in computer science education, pp.
248-252. ACM, 2011.
Activities
Grade 6 group: each member gives a 10 minute lesson,
followed by a quiz related to the group's lessons (5 mins
per group member)
Grade 11 group: each member gives a 10 minute lesson,
followed by a quiz related to the group's lessons (5 mins
per group member)
Debrief
Talk about readings
Due at end of class: peer
feedback for Groups 1 and 2
Nov 13: Demonstration Lessons for Groups 3 and 4
Readings specified by some of the presenters, who based
their lesson plan around assuming students will have completed
a specified reading (see Piazza)
Activities
Intro uni CS group: each member gives a 10 minute lesson,
followed by a quiz related to the group's lessons (5 mins
per group member)
Programming languages group: each member gives a 10 minute
lesson, followed by a quiz related to the group's lessons (5
mins per group member)
Debrief
Due at beginning of class:
initial teaching log for Groups 1 and 2
Due at end of class: peer
feedback for Groups 3 and 4
Nov 20: Marking Quizzes
Readings
Harrington, Brian, Marzieh Ahmadzadeh, Nick Cheng, Eric
Heqi Wang, and Vladimir Efimov. "TA
Marking Parties: Worth the Price of Pizza?." In
Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International
Computing Education Research, pp. 232-240. ACM, 2018.
Stephenson, Ben, Michelle Craig, Daniel Zingaro, Diane
Horton, Danny Heap, and Elaine Huynh. "Exam
Wrappers: Not a Silver Bullet." In Proceedings of the
2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science
Education, pp. 573-578. ACM, 2017.
Due at start of class: initial
teaching log for Groups 3 and 4
Barker, Lecia, Christopher Lynnly Hovey, and Jane Gruning.
"What
influences CS faculty to adopt teaching practices?" In
Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer
Science Education, pp. 604-609. ACM, 2015.
Activities
Readings review
Discussing today's readings
Readings for your reports
Student-provided case studies
Feedback
Course Policies
Academic Integrity
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students
must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism
and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and
Disciplinary Procedures” (see www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/
for more information).
Safe Space Statement
We are committed to nurturing a space where students, teaching
assistants, lecturers, and professors can all engage in the exchange
of ideas and dialogue, without fear of being made to feel unwelcome
or unsafe on account of biological sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity or expression, race/ethnicity, religion, linguistic and
cultural background, age, physical or mental ability, or any other
aspect integral to one's personhood. We therefore recognize our
responsibility, both individual and collective, to strive to
establish and maintain an environment wherein all interactions are
based on empathy and mutual respect for the person, acknowledging
differences of perspectives, free from judgment, censure, and/or
stigma.
In keeping with the professional culture of teaching and learning,
the Faculty of Education community believes that our teaching and
learning spaces should model such professional environments. As a
community, we are committed to creating authentic opportunities
where understanding of teaching and learning is co-constructed
between instructors and students. In order for us to create these
learning environments, we are expected to demonstrate awareness of,
respect for and commitment to the behaviours and actions of
professionals. As members of the Faculty of Education community, we
are expected to be accountable to ourselves and others and to be
engaged, collegial and accessible. By doing so, we are more fully
able to share together in the types of critical dialogue, creative
thinking and reflective practice expected of professionals.
As discussed in our first class, we encourage people to "call in"
rather than "call out". This is a learning environment and we should
assume everybody wants to learn and be better. And where
appropriate, we should use trigger warnings in sharing content.
Scent Free Environment
This classroom and associated office hours are a scent free
environment. Please refrain from wearing perfume, cologne and body
spray in these spaces out of respect for people with neurological
& respiratory issues that may be affected by these scents.
Food Allergies
As discussed in our first class, students may bring food to class so
long as the food does not affect the learning environment of others.
If you have any severe food allergies, please email Elizabeth so she
can let the class know not to bring the relevant foods.
Assessment
Over the course of the term, you will form a group to teach a mock
course that you as a group will design. You will then individually
teach a short (10 minute) lesson intended to be an
example/demonstration of what your group's course teaches its
students. Everybody from your group will have their demonstration
lessons in the same class, in an order of your choosing, to allow
the opportunity for lessons to build on each other. You will also
each prepare 5 minutes worth of quiz question(s) to assess student
understanding of your demonstration lesson.
At the end of your group's demonstration lessons, your group will
give a quiz that you have prepared, to assess' your "students'"
understanding of the material you just taught.
The final paper for this course is a report on how your lesson went:
how did you design the lesson and associated assessment, how did
it go, how would you change it if you could do it again, how does
your design process relate to the course readings, etc.
Broken down, your final grade will be determined as follows. Unless
noted, assessments are individual, and should be submitted as a hard
copy.
Justification & reflection for the lesson and associated
quiz questions
You will be expected to relate your lesson and assessment to
the readings as well as the historical & social context of
your content (i.e. CS or CT)
5% - Giving quality feedback to your peers
Core Competencies Developed By This Course
For students interested in relating this course to the Quebec
Education Programme, this class will give you practice in:
Competency 2: To communicate clearly in the language of
instruction, both orally and in writing, using correct grammar,
in various contexts related to teaching.
Competency 3: To develop teaching/learning situations that are
appropriate to the students concerned and the subject content
with a view to developing the competencies targeted in the
programs of study.
Competency 5: To evaluate student progress in learning the
subject content and mastering the related competencies.
Competency 10: To cooperate with members of the teaching team
in carrying out tasks involving the development and evaluation
of the competencies targeted in the programs of study, taking
into account the students concerned.
Competency 11: To engage in professional development
individually and with others.
McGill provides Counselling
Services and Psychiatric
Services for students; if you feel you are struggling
mentally and need somebody to talk to they are there for you.